Wednesday, 28 November 2012

Hi EveryoneWhat a busy month November has been. Besides the ongoing work on the new website (almost there!), I also had an enamelling show on Ideal World tv to prepare for. Sadly, the show was 'a bit of a disaster darling' with the air conditioning blowing gale force cold air across the set which meant I couldn't do a single demo! Usually, when enamelling in the studio I can see the powder melting within a minute or even seconds but not one piece lost the powdered look in the whole hour of the show (rather frustating after struggling to land some powder on the blank in the first place!). When I looked at the tealights underneath the flames were positively horizontal! No wonder the stove never got hot. Having said that, the producers were so happy with the samples that I had taken with me and with the fact that despite everything we sold out of the stoves, that they have asked if I would go back and do another two shows. So watch this space to find out when they will be on...

In light of the Ideal World tv show I decided to feature Efco's Efcolor Enamelling as the November Product of the Month. I know it was one of the products I featured on the website when it first started back in 2010 but it never hurts to revisit a product, especially when it has evolved and grown over the years. So here are the new projects to tie in with the Jewellery theme of the show:

Tuesday, 6 November 2012

Sorry I haven't 'blogged' recently - it's been rather crazy in the Creative Craftworks studio this last month. Here's a quick catch up for those of you who don't follow the facebook page...

Efco do a fabulous set of three little PappArt boxes, perfect for filling with sweets and hanging on the tree at Christmas time.

The first box is in the shape of a Santa's boot which I've painted with red Decoupaint and Efco's Snow Liner paint and decorated with gems.

The second box is in the shape of a
little Christmas tree which I've covered with Efco's Relief Paste for a
textured look. When dry, I painted it with dark green acrylic and then
dry brushed a lighter green over the top to give it depth. The trunk was
painted brown and then it was decorated with glitter thread and gems.

Last but not least is the Star which,
having basecoated it with white Decoupaint and a few random splodges of
light blue Decoupaint, I decoupaged with a napkin and sparkle Mod Podge.
When dry, I stuck small gems in the middle of the snowflakes with
Dekofix glue.

I had a wonderful day at Colemans Craft Warehouse on Saturday 27th October for their Big Demo Day. Both staff and customers were lovely. I had a great time demonstrating assorted techniques for creating Christmas decorations. I also uploaded a new project sheet to the Special Occasions Page: Festive Xmas Lights

If you like making jewellery for presents, whether beaded or enamelled, then you might like to make your own decorative jewellery boxes from mini Papp Art boxes. Make them distinctive and unique by using the Bullseye Cane technique guide on TheCraftLibrary.com site to decorate the box lid with Fimo. All you need to do then is to paint the base with acrylic paint to finish.

Here's a few more Christmas decoration ideas I've been working on over the last few weeks:

Last, but not least, I will be appearing on Create and Craft tv at 1pm on Tuesday 13th November where I will be demonstrating Efco's fantastic Efcolor Enamelling Range. If you've not discovered Efco's low temperature enamel powders and tealight stove I suggest you watch the programme as not only is it a lot of fun to do but it would also make a great Christmas present for a crafty friend! Here's a taster of the sort of jewellery you can create with this fab product:

About Me

I'm a firm believer, especially with today's busy lifestyles, in the
therapeutic effect of being creative. I know that everyone has the
ability to be creative in some form or other, it's just a question of
having the confidence to have a go... as Edwin Land said "An essential
aspect of creativity is not being afraid to fail".
Hopefully this blog will inspire others to find their creativity!